MOSCOW: Ukrainian drones have once again caused a fire at the oil terminal in the Russian Black Sea port of Tuapse, authorities said on Friday. There were no deaths or injuries, the crisis management team for the southern Russian region of Krasnodar said. According to the report, more than 100 firefighters are involved in fire-fighting operations. This was the fourth Ukrainian attack on the oil facilities within the last two weeks. The Russian Defence Ministry reported that 141 Ukrainian drones were shot down over Russian territory. However, air defences were once again powerless against the strikes in Tuapse. The previous attacks caused severe damage.
Most of the reservoirs have now been burnt out and the infrastructure for transferring oil to ships has also been damaged. Russian President Vladimir Putin recently warned that the attacks could potentially pose an environmental hazard, but insisted that the authorities have the situation under control. Official data shows air pollution levels are significantly elevated and some of the oil has leaked and entered the sea. Ukraine, which has been defending itself against Russia's attack for more than four years, is deliberately targeting not only military sites but also facilities belonging to the Russian oil industry. This is intended, on the one hand, to hamper the Russian army's fuel supply and, on the other, to undermine the Kremlin's war financing.
Meanwhile, Russia again attacked Ukraine with drones during the night. According to official reports, two apartment blocks in the port city of Odessa caught fire following drone strikes. Two people were injured, the Ukrainian civil protection agency reported. Twenty-five people, including two children, are receiving psychological support following the shock of the strikes.
Separately, Russia fired a record number of long-range attack drones at Ukraine in April, analysis of data published by Kyiv's air force showed. The wave of attacks came with US-mediated talks on ending the conflict frozen and saw Moscow significantly increase the number of long-range drones fired in the middle of the day, a tactic Kyiv condemned as trying to inflict more civilian harm.
Russia launched 6,583 long-range drones during the month, according to a compilation of daily reports published by Ukraine's air force. That was two per cent more than the number fired in March, which was also a record at the time. According to the data, Ukraine managed to shoot down 88 per cent of all incoming drones and missiles.
Kyiv has touted its defences against drones as the best in the world, developed over four years of nightly Russian barrages of Iranian-style attack craft. Ukrainian drone interceptors have been used in the Gulf to down Iranian drones launched as part of the war in the Middle East. Russia previously fired long-range drones at Ukraine almost exclusively in overnight attacks, but in recent weeks, daytime attacks have become more frequent in what analysts have called an approach designed to inflict more damage.
"Russia's new tactic of coupling a large nighttime strike with an equally large daytime strike will likely cause increased civilian harm", the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said in April. "Russia may aim for the daytime strike series to more heavily target civilians and civilian infrastructure including public and open-space areas, especially as warmer weather arrives and more Ukrainians are likely outside", the US-based think tank added.
Pavlo Palisa, the deputy head of President Volodymyr Zelensky's office said the daytime attacks were a new attempt to "terrorise civilians" now that winter is over. Russia had barraged Ukraine's power and heating grid over the winter, leaving millions without hot water or communal heating in -20°C temperatures. "There is also an economic component here. Massive attacks in the middle of the working day significantly paralyse business", Palisa said in an interview to Ukrainian media in early April. Moscow denies targeting civilians and says its attacks target military and military-connected energy sites. Tens of thousands of civilians have been killed since Russia attacked in February 2022, including hundreds in drone and missile strikes on apartment buildings across the country. — dpa/AFP
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